Bath Time!

Now that Xander and Liam are more mobile, life in our house has been a lot more fun. One of their favorite times of the day is bath time. Tyler has even had a lot more fun taking a bath with his brothers, except when they splash. Having all boys is a lot of fun as you can see.Liam, Tyler, and Xander

Tyler giving Xander a sweet kiss.

TylerLiam
Xander
And we can't forget Buzz.

7 month old baby faces.

I can't believe that my babies are 7 months old already. They just need to stop growing so fast. I have to say that this age is my absolute favorite. The twins are not totally mobile yet, but they can still move around on the floor and entertain themselves for longer periods of time. They are also sooo happy! They love to explore new objects and just chew on everything.

At 7 months, Xander is pretty much sleeping through the night. He wakes up so happy and is just a little spunk. When he sees us his little legs just start kicking so fast and if you are holding him he will try to crawl up your chest. He has also discovered how to clap so when he wants attention or to say that he is happy, he just starts clapping and everyone follows along. Xander now has 2 teeth on the bottom, 1 big top tooth that just came in and another big tooth that is trying to break through. Did I tell you that this kid can bite?
Xander loves to eat! This lil guy can hold his food and he lets you know when he wants to eat. The best part of feeding Xander is that he can hold his own bottle. He is such a help to mommy because his brother refuses to do so. He is not crawling yet, but he does scoot backwards and in circles pretty good. We have discovered that Xander and Tyler have a lot of the same personalities traits and these brothers just love to kiss and hug each other. I just love my little bubby.

At 7 months, Liam is almost crawling. He can get on his hands and knees and on his hands and toes. He is trying to figure out what to do with his hands and he will pick up his hand and trying to move it forward while picking up his leg on the opposite side. He concentrates so much on this task. Liam is my mellow guy. He is so content on watching everyone else especially his brothers play. He also makes the sweetest noises when he is trying to talk. He is very tolerant of his twin who is constantly pulling on his hair or trying to eat his toes. Liam has two bottom teeth now and probably one coming in on the top. He is constantly putting his hands in his mouth to try to comfort the pain. Liam is a good eater, but he refuses to hold his bottle because he has to message his face or my hand while he eats and especially while he is trying to go asleep. He has the most gentle touch and when he wants my attention, all he does is gently touch my face. I call Liam my squishy because his cheeks and tummy are so soft and he just lets me squeeze him all the time.

I have to admit that being a mom of 7 month old twins is so great! My boys are just to much fun. They are at such a happy stage and really don't cry very often. They sleep well. I can take them shopping with me and they entertain each other, too. The best part is their sweet baby faces and the way they look at me. I have been so blessed.1st time sitting on the grass. Liam and Xander.
Reading the paper together. Liam and Xander.
Bath time! Xander and Liam.

Brotherly Love.

I could not ask for better boys. They love each other so much. Tyler is the best big brother. He helps me so much by talking and playing with the boys when one is upset or mommy is just busy. Xander and Liam love Tyler so much. Every time he is anywhere near them, they look at him and just smile. Xander and Liam also love each other. When I sit them in front of each other, they go wild and wiggle so much trying to get to one another. They love to talk to each other and hold hands. The best is when they try to give each other hugs.

I hope this brotherly love continues. I know there will be times when they are going to fight, but I hope those times are few. I want so much for these boys to depend on one another and form a relationship that stays strong throughout their lives.
Xander, Tyler, and Liam

Yummy food.

Liam's first taste of food.

Xander's first taste.

Messy Liam.

Messy Xander.
Tyler was trying to cheer Liam up.Clean up time.

Liam did not like clean up time, but Xander was having a blast.

Fun times in our busy life.

Life in the West household has been an adventure as you can imagine with twins and a 3 year old, but we have been having a lot of fun. All of the boys are growing so fast and it's amazing seeing the amount of stuff that they are learning in such a short period of time. Our house is loud, but it is full of love and laughter and, of course, the occasional crying.

Tyler's verbal skills has blasted off and he is trying so hard to pronounce words better. We sometime repeat words about 5 times before he can say it right, but at least he is trying. He has been telling us stories and trying to read to the boys. We have trouble understanding him at times especially when he is talking fast and he starts slurring his words together, but its amazing to see the improvement he has made in one year. I still think he will need some speech therapy in the future, but his teacher feels that he does not need it at this time.
Recently we had Tyler's best friend, Xander, and his family over for dinner and a play date. The boys are so cute together and it was amazing to see how similar Xander and Tyler's personalities are. It was nice talking to his parents and it felt like we were encouraging each other about the difficulties of a 3 year old. Hopefully Xander will be able to come over for more play dates.Tyler and Xander
Tyler was so sad the next morning when he woke up. He went to the chair that Xander had been sitting in the night before, touched the chair with his hand and said, "Xander" in such a sad touching voice. He missed his buddy, but we let him know that he would see Xander at school and would be able to play with him. He said, "Ok" in an excited voice and went on playing. Such a funny little guy.

The twins are now 5 1/2 months old and they are such loving and fun little people. I am enjoying them so much I can't even put it into the right words. I have to say that I love having twins right now. It is so hard at times, but just making them smile and laugh, especially at the same time is so worth all the hard times we go through. At their last dr.'s appt Liam had passed up Xander in weight by 2 oz. They both weighed about 15 lbs which is about 50%, but they were about 90% for height. I am really excited to see they are tall boys.


Xander is such a cutie. His eyebrows are so expressive and I can't get enough of him. I call him the Daddy Tracker. If Eric is anywhere in the room, he can spot him so fast and just smiles and gets all squirmy. He loves his daddy. He loves to move his legs also. When he sits in his bouncer or car seat his legs get going so fast that I feel like he is running a Marathon. I am so afraid of when he begins to walk because I can just imagine him running everywhere. Xander is our loud child. He talks and squeals constantly whether he is happy or complaining. I just love his little voice. Xander also has 2 bottom teeth and they are sharp! His smile is so cute now with his teeth showing. He also likes to bite. Eric keeps complaining that he keeps gnawing on his hand and it hurts.
Liam is our laid back and joyful child. His cheeks are so chunky that I just love to kiss them. He loves to put both hands on my face and smile at me in a tender way. He also likes to grab my hair which I do not like, but he thinks its funny when I say,"OW." Liam is starting to become mobile. He is kind of crawling backwards and actually gets places, just not the places that he wants to go. He is about ready to roll over and has actually done it once. I think once he gets the rolling thing down he will be rolling everywhere instead of backing up into things. The funniest thing about Liam is that he talks and complains himself to sleep.
Xander also does this a little, but Liam will talk with his eyes closed for a while before he goes to sleep.
As you can see we are having a lot of fun and the kids are so entertaining. I feel like my life is fulfilled and could not get anymore happier.

Living with 4month twins.

A year ago, if you asked me if I would ever liked to have twins, I would have laughed in your face. Never did I imagine that we would be blessed with twins. Today I am loving having twins. Don't get me wrong, it is a lot of work and I have gotten used to getting very little sleep at times, but think about all the fun and adorable moments you have with just one baby and double it. Our house is a lot more noisy, but the noise if probably from laughter and love.

I can't believe that Xander and Liam are already 4 months old. I can't believe that we have been parents of twins for 4 months and are actually enjoying it.

At 4 months old, the boys are cooing like crazy. It's so much fun to sit them facing each other and listen to them just talk. When we lay them down next to each other, they always hold hands. I can't wait to see how their relationship grows closer as they get older.

Xander rolled over already and I am sure that Liam will follow soon. Both boys love to stand up and Liam even tries to take steps.

We have finally moved the boys into their own room and they are currently sharing a crib and transitioning very well. If it was not for the cold and cough that has plagued them lately, they would probably be sleeping through the night. It funny to see no matter how far apart you place them in the crib, they always tend to migrate and snuggle up close to each other during the night.

One part of having twins and twin babies is the adorable faces that they make. They are starting to look a lot more alike to us, but we can always tell the apart. A lot of our laughter comes from just looking at them and hearing them talk.Liam is intently listening to Xander's complaints...

but he is not sure what to do about it.

Puzzled looks.
Help! I'm falling over from laughter!

Say Cheese!

3 months.

Exactly 3 months ago, I gave birth to these beautiful baby boys.
Today Eric and I said to each other, 'Congratulations, we have survived 3 months with 3 kids."
The last 3 months have been so hard, but so wonderful. I can honestly say that these are the best of times and the worst of times. It is so hard to function with just a couple of hours of sleep on some nights, with two babies crying at the same time, and a 3 year old demanding your attention. It's exhausting trying to feed two babies and still find time to feed yourself or even take a shower. It's frustrating not being able to keep my house clean with all this going on and after spending hours cleaning it, a little certain boy comes along and messes it up within 5 minutes.

Life can be so hard sometimes, but then there are those times when these beautiful babies look up at you, smile, coo just because you are their mother. It's magical watching a 3 year old ask to hold his baby brothers and snuggle up to them or try to tickle them and then watching these cute babies smile back at him. It's wonderful being able to comfort these boys just by holding them and talking to them. It's so peaceful watching these sweet babies sleep, their eyes twitching and wandering what they are dreaming of. I would not trade any of those hard times if it means that I have these precious moments in my life.
At 3 months of age, Xander and Liam are very happy boys. They smile constantly and love to coo or talk when they are being talked to. Last night Xander laughed out loud for the first time. It was a big chuckle and the most precious sound. I feel Liam is trying to learn how to crawl. Every time I put him on his tummy on the floor, he tries to grab onto something and pull himself forward. Sometimes he makes it somewhere. They are also discovering their hands and toes. It is so cute watching them look at something and concentrate so hard trying to figure it out. At night they sleep together in a playard. We try to lay them down as far away from each other as possible because at some point they move right next to each other and snuggle and sometimes wake each other up.
I love my children more than anything else. Xander and Liam have already brought so much love and joy into our home and I feel so blessed and humbled with them in my life.

A month to remember.

November was a very busy month for our family and because it was so busy, I did not have time to blog.
The month started off with the passing of Dennis, then the twins blessing. The blessing was beautiful and was an even more emotional day because Dennis had passed away the Friday before. The spirit was so strong that day and it felt like a day of mourning Dennis and celebrating the birth of the twins. Try contemplating how we felt that day. Many happy and sad tears were shed that day.
Liam

Xander

That next week we spent attending Dennis' memorial service then driving to Utah and attending the burial service at the Salt Lake City Cemetery. It was a beautiful service. This was the one time when all of Dennis' children and stepchildren were all together. We spent 2 days gathering and having fun.Tyler was in heaven playing with so many cousins It was truly a celebration of Dennis' life. I learned so much about Dennis in that week that I did not know and I loved him and missed him even more.

Ty sleeping on the drive to Utah.


Ty loving his cousin's fake rifle.

Ty and cousin celebrating his little cousin's birthday.

The next week we went to Fresno to introduce the twins to their great-grandparents. I consider myself very lucky to still have 3 living grandparents. (My grandfather passed away when I was 14). This is very special to me because I really want my children to be able to meet their great-grandparents. Unfortunately due to health problems, I am sad to say that some of them might not be around for another year,though I pray that they are. I wish that my children could grow up knowing them, but I will at least be able to say to them that they met their great- grandparents and each one was able to hold them.. I have many fond memories of spending the summers with my grandparents on both sides.My uncle also came for a visit to meet the twins.

Thanksgiving was spent at home. For the holidays we usually end of traveling, but with the passing of Dennis, we decided that we would hold Thanksgiving at home and celebrate it with Eric's mother. We had a very relaxing day, excluding the time I had to prepare the meal and worry that the turkey was never going to be done cooking.

November was a month to remember. It was a time we mourned the loss of Dennis, but continued to celebrate the birth of the twins with so many family members.